He goes to work in a Chelsea tracksuit, but underneath that lion crest Paul Rideout’s heart still beats for Everton.

Rideout scored the winner at Wembley 21 years ago, the last time Everton lifted a trophy, in the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

He was also the man who bagged the winner in their last Premier League victory at Stamford Bridge in 1994.

Rideout, 51, is a youth ­development coach in charge of three age groups at youth club Sereno in Phoenix, Arizona – who are twinned with Chelsea.

But for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Goodison Park, Rideout will not bother with divided loyalties from 5,100 miles away.

“I consider myself an ­Evertonian because it’s the club where I felt most at home in my playing career,” he said.

The Toffees will be looking for a repeat of this come May

“They always treated me like I was part of the furniture, and when I went back a couple of years ago, I was given a ­reception like a prodigal son.

“Even when we nearly went down, and we had to beat Wimbledon on the last day of the season to survive, the supporters never turned on their team and I will always respect them for that.

“It’s a bit ironic we have got Chelsea uniforms at Sereno, but in football you follow your heart – and I know where mine will be when the whistle blows at Goodison. I’ll be watching from ­thousands of miles away, but if you listen carefully you’ll be able to hear me shouting at the telly.”

Rideout’s playing career spanned 22 years from the frisky teenager who made his debut for Swindon at 16 to his encore in English football at 38 with Tranmere – 599 appearances in Europe plus stints with Kansas City Wizards and two years as a pioneer in China.

Your time: Rideout feels the current crop are much better equipped to lift the Cup than his '95 side (Photo: Getty)

The high-water mark was his close-range header, after Graham Stuart’s shot ­ricocheted off the bar, in the 1995 Cup final. He had earlier scored a hat-trick at Wembley for England Schoolboys against Scotland, but somehow finished on the losing side.

“I’ve still got my Cup winner’s medal, but I’ve been wondering whether it belongs hidden away in a drawer in Arizona or whether I should ask Everton to look after it and put it on display where it might be appreciated more,” said Rideout.

“I’ve lived off that goal for 21 years and I’ve even managed to convert some of the kids here into Everton fans.

“That day at Wembley seems like it belongs to another world. I look at the current Everton side and, with respect to my old team-mates, they are much better than the team who won the Cup in 1995.

“The talent, especially down the spine – John Stones, Ross Barkley, Romelu Lukaku – is frightening. Results have been inconsistent, and they have thrown away a lot of points in the last five minutes against Bournemouth, Stoke, Chelsea and last week to West Ham.

“But in recent years, Everton have always given as good as they got against Chelsea, and I’m beginning to think it could be their year again.”

Rideout, who became a US citizen last month, has few regrets about becoming a ­football globetrotter. He was only 21 when Aston Villa sold him to Italian club Bari – a move that came too soon, as he admits – but he was voted best overseas player in China when he became an English football missionary in Qianwei Huandao and, later, at ­Shenzhen Jianlibao.

Now Chinese football is paying imports astronomical sums – Wayne Rooney was offered £100million to link up with his former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson in Shanghai – and Rideout admitted: “I didn’t go for the money, it was more for the adventure.

“We played in front of 50,000 crowds and they loved their football – although I’m not sure they always understood what they were watching.

“Of course, it’s a different culture with a different ­atmosphere and I would not have missed it for the world, but I love my job and the ­lifestyle here at Sereno.

“You can’t beat getting up at 6am to catch the lunchtime kick-off back in England and staying camped in front of the TV for seven hours, watching back-to-back Premier League games or Cup ties – especially if one of them tugs at your heartstrings.”